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Romulan
Description: The official emblem of the Romulan Star Empire Description: Romulans in 2266 Description: Romulan male in the 2360s Description: Romulan female in 2379 Romulans are a Humanoid civilization sprung from the planet Romulus but with Vulcan ancestry. The Romulan Star Empire states one of the major powers in the galaxy. History and Politics When Surak's (founder of modern Vulcan society) reforms of embracing logical principles and rejecting emotions spread rapidly across Vulcan, a minority rejected Surak's ideals. They departed Vulcan in the 4th Century and established settlements on the planets Calder II, Dessica II, Draken IV, Yadalla Prime and Barradas III, which might have become a center of this new offshoot civilization, called the Debrune. However, the journey of the Vulcan dissenters had not came to an end yet, so those worlds were abandoned again. Eventually they reached the planet Romulus, which seemed suitable to found a new society: The Romulan race was born. (TNG: "Gambit, Part I"; "Gambit, Part II") Rapidly they spread to their system's second habitable planet, Remus, which is rich in Dilithium ore. By subjugating the indigenous Remans, who are either the descendants of Romulan settlers or an indigenous species, a new, undesired caste formed, which served as labor force to mine the rich resources of Remus. From these two worlds the Romulans founded an interstellar empire spanning many worlds, reaching across much of the quadrant. Eventually the power came to be known as the Romulan Star Empire. In the 2150s this empire came into contact with the rapidly expanding Human sphere of influence. First contact came when the NX-class starship ''Enterprise'' wandered into a Romulan minefield, sustaining significant damage. A pair of Romulan vessels then forced the starship to leave the area, despite having a mine still attached to the hull. (ENT: "Minefield") Secretly, the Romulans were manipulating the political atmosphere on Vulcan in 2154 and perhaps earlier. A part of this scheme centered Vulcan launching a surprise attack on Andoria, which would somehow contribute to the larger objective of re-uniting Romulans and Vulcans. Administrator V'las collaborated with the Romulans in this plot. The involvement of the Romulans in the aborted Vulcan-Andorian war was not discovered at the time. (ENT: "Kir'shara") Relations between Humans and Romulans continued to be poor, and eventually a brief but intense war resulted in the late 2150s. This war, which is today known as the Earth-Romulan War, was fought entirely in space, without any kind of personal or visual interaction between the two sides. After the war ended in 2160 an area of neutral space was created to prevent further conflict between the powers. Entry by either side into this Romulan Neutral Zone constituted an act of war. During the 23rd century, the Star Empire formed a formal alliance with the Klingon Empire, which not only led to an exchange of technologies, including the Romulan cloaking device and the Klingon D7 class battlecruiser, but also meant a fundamental shift of power in the Alpha- and Beta Quadrants. However, this alliance did not last long and soon the two powers entered a state of 'cold war', including the Battle of Klach D'Kel Brakt, the Battle of Narendra III and the Khitomer Massacre. It is since then, that Romulans and Klingons call each other blood enemies. (TOS: "The Enterprise Incident"; TNG: "Sins of the Father", "Birthright, Part I" and Part II; DS9: "Blood Oath") Romulans had never been seen face to face by humans or Vulcans until 2266, long after the Earth-Romulan War was ended, when a Romulan Bird-of-Prey penetrated the Neutral Zone to test Federation defences. Although the ship was destroyed by the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)]], this action marked a long period of 'cold war' between the two powers. Eventually this culminated in the Tomed Incident of 2311, when thousands of Federation lives were lost to the Romulans. The incident led to the Treaty of Algeron, which forbade the Federation from developing cloaking technology and reaffirmed the existence of the Romulan Neutral Zone between the two powers. Subsequent to this the Romulans cut off all contact with the Federation. (TOS: "Balance of Terror") Although the Starship [[USS_Enterprise_(NCC-1701-C)|USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-C)]] engaged several Romulan vessels attacking the Narendra III outpost in 2344, and there were other unofficial contacts, in general the Romulans maintained their isolation until 2364. At this point a Romulan warbird entered Federation space to investigate the loss of several of their border outposts. Although it later emerged that the Borg were responsible for the destruction, the Romulans announced at this time that they would again take a more active role in interstellar relations. They acted in opposition to the Federation for some years, until the emergence of the Dominion threat in 2370. The Romulans responded by allowing the Federation to use one of their cloaking devices on the [[USS_Defiant_(NX-74205)|USS Defiant (NX-74205)]] in order to allow it to operate in the Gamma Quadrant. (TNG: "The Neutral Zone"; "Yesterday's Enterprise"; "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I"; "The Search, Part I") Subsequently the Romulan Tal Shiar launched a joint attack on the Dominion with the Cardassian Obsidian Order; the attack failed utterly, devastating the Romulan and Cardassian fleets. After this the Romulan government signed a non-agression pact with the Dominion. The Romulans reneged on this treaty after a successful intelligence operation conducted by Captain Sisko, joining forces with the Federation-Klingon alliance in the war against the Dominion. (DS9: "The Die Is Cast"; "Call to Arms"; "In the Pale Moonlight") After the war there was something of a political upheaval on Romulus. Shinzon, a clone of Captain Picard created as part of a Romulan intelligence operation, had been exiled to Remus early in his life. He started to gain a considerable following, becoming a highly respected military leader during the Dominion War. In late 2379, the Praetor and most of the Romulan Senate were killed in an attempted coup d'état by Shinzon and the Remans. They plotted to destroy Earth, but the attempt was foiled by Picard and the crew of the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E)|USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E)]]. (Star Trek: Nemesis) Physiology Physically, Romulans are almost identical to their ancestors, having the same pointed ears and converging eyebrows as the Vulcans. Externally most Romulans differ from Vulcans in having prominent ridges of bone on their foreheads. Though identical in almost every way to their cousins, the Romulans lack the rigorous mental disciplines developed by the followers of Surak. They are a passionate people, easily moved to extreme emotions. Society In Romulan society, military rank influences social standing. Because Romulans are a militant civilization, who consider defending the Romulan Empire and their own personal honour of foremost importance, military service and its accompanying rank are decisive factors in determining social eminence. Romulan society has a clear caste system. Every Romulan is accorded a social standing accociated with the power and military rank he commands. The highest Romulan rank is the Praetor, who presides over the Romulan Senate and acts as chief of the executive branch. The Romulan Senate is a very highly esteemed establishment of the government. All important issues must be ratified by the Senate to become law; even the feared Tal Shiar must answer to the Romulan Senate. Respect and honour form the basis of society. With Romulans, a successful negotiation must leave all parties satisfied that they were dealt with honour. Their status must be acknowledged during the proceedings and remain intact after the encounter. Though honor is as integral a part of their society as Klingons, Romulans are not so physically violent or interested in dying gloriously. They are however, extremely suspicious of all aliens and will believe only one of their own. Their words are kept with the knowledge that failure to do so will mean a fate worse than death: dishonour. The main force in Romulan life is honour, but they also acknowledge the reality of power. The goal of every Romulan is gaining power - if not for themselves then for the Romulan Empire. The loyalty of Romulans for the Empire is unquestionable, and the nationalism of Romulans can always be counted upon in times of conflict. * List of Romulan planets Culture and Tradition The Romulans lack the rigorous mental disciplines developed by the followers of Surak. Like the Vulcans, the Romulans have surrendered unrestrained violence as a way of life. However, in the case of the Romulans this has been replaced with a controlled deviousness; as a species the Romulans are generally thought of as duplicitous, a reputation the actions of their government over the last decade has reinforced. Their reluctance to rely on overt hostility generally leads the Romulans to play a waiting game, attempting to manipulate an opponent into breaking - or appearing to break - an agreement so as to give them a solid justification for striking. According to Centurion Bochra, romulan parents dispose of any newborn carrying birth defects as the alternative would mean a waste of resources. (TNG: "The Enemy"). Science and Technology *List of Romulan starships *Cloaking device *Disruptor *Plasma torpedo People *List of Romulans Food and Beverages *Kali-fal *Ossoul twist *Romulan ale *Viinerine